Q: How are trumpet players like pirates?
A: They're both murder on the high Cs.

Q: A violin and a viola are both in a burning building, in the same room, which burns first?
A: The violin because the viola was in its case.

Q: What's the difference between a dog and a violinist?
A: A dog knows when to quit scratching.

Q: How do you get a trumpet to sound like a french horn?
A: Put your hand in the bell and play a lot of wrong notes.

Q: How does one trumpet player greet another?
A: "Hi. I'm better than you."

Q: How do you know when a drummer is at your door ?
A: He speeds up when hes knocking

Q: How many guitar players does it to take to change a lightbulb?
A: 5 .... One to change and 4 to say they could have done it better

The Mozart Effect: Makes a child smarter and more mathematical along with a
higher IQ

The Haydn Effect: Child is witty and quick on his feet, quite often bringing
a grin to the faces of those around him. Despite this he exhibits remarkable
humility.

The Bach Effect: Child memorizes Scripture and says his prayers every day;
may overwhelm listeners with his speech.

The Handel Effect: Much like the Bach Effect; in addition, the child may
exhibit dramatic behavior.

The Beethoven Effect: Child develops a superiority complex and is prone to
violent tantrums; is a perfectionist.

The Liszt Effect: Child speaks rapidly and extravagantly, but never really
says anything important

The Bruckner Effect: Child speaks very slowly and repeats himself
frequently. Gains a reputation for profundity.

The Grieg Effect: This child is quirky yet cheery. May be prone toward
Norwegian folklore.

The Wagner Effect: Child becomes a megalomaniac. Speaks for six hours at a stretch.

The Schoenberg Effect: Child never repeats a word until he has used all the
other words in his vocabulary. Sometimes talk backwards or upside-down. Eventually people
stop listening to him. Child blames them for their inability to understand
him.

The Ives Effect: Child develops a remarkable ability to carry on several
separate conversations at once.

The Stravinsky Effect: Child is prone to savage, guttural and profane
outbursts that lead to fighting and pandemonium in preschool.

The Shostakovich Effect: Child only expresses themselves in parent-approved ways.

The Glass Effect: Child repeats one word over, and over, and over, and over....

An L.A. recording session ground to a halt yesterday when an oboe player, who was constantly sucking on her reed to keep it moist during rests and between takes, inadvertently inhaled and swallowed it.
The conductor immediately called 911 and asked what he should do.
The operator told him, "Use muted trumpet instead."

A violist was in the back seat of a small town's orchestra. One day he found a genie and was granted three wishes, the first wish was that he wanted to be 5 times better then he already was. By the next practice he was principal of the violists. After some time, he wanted to become even better. He went to the geinie and asked to be 10 times better once more. The next day he became the principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. After months he still wanted to become a musician. He asked the genie once more but to be 15 times better. The next day at practice he was back in his small town's orchestra but in the very back of the second violin section.

A 'C', an E-flat, and a 'G' go into a bar. The bartender says: "Sorry,
but we don't serve minors." So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G
have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is
diminished: the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the
situation, but is not sharp enough.
A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying,
"Excuse me. I'll just be a second." An A comes into the bar, but the
bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and
exclaims: "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this
bar tonight."
The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night
in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says:
"You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major
development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the
suit, and everything else, and stands there au natural.
Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a
rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to
the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without
Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is
found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all
accusations to the contrary are bassless.

A father was buying bass lessons for his son. The 1st week the father asked him what he had learned
The son said "On my 1st lesson we learned about the E string"
The 2nd week came and after the lesson the father asked what had he learned that week
The son said "On my 2nd lesson I learned about the A string"
3rd week came by and the father said to his son "You know these are expensive lessons what have you learned this week"
The son said "I quit the lessons I already got a gig"

It's hard to believe that the Pentagon website contains this surprisingly
un-PC sub-section listing of some more obscure WMD's (Weapons of Mass
Destruction): The following is a list of more obscure forms of domestic
"Band" Weapons of Mass Destruction. These are the most insidious and
dangerous weapons of all. To the common layperson, they appear innocuous
and non-lethal, but in the right hands, they present a threat of
incalculable proportions. Please read the following and heed all
precautions therewith.

PICCOLO: the minute dimensions of this weapon make it especially lethal as
it is easily concealed and can be set off just about anywhere. As a solo
weapon, this device emits a high-pitched squeal that directly targets the
inner ear. The application of this tone temporarily disorients its intended
victim rendering him unable to react. The natural reaction of covering
one's ears to reduce the intense pain causes military personnel within a 100
yard radius to drop their weapons leaving them defenseless to further
attack. Applied in concert with a second piccolo of slightly higher or
lower pitch, the weapons produce the effect of an ice pick through the
eardrum and may cause profuse bleeding of the aural cavity. These weapons
are constructed in three forms; metal, composite materials, wood, or any
combination of the three. The all-metal piccolos are especially lethal. The
only countermeasure to this weapon is to apply psychological warfare in the
following manner. Compliment the musician on her: clothes/hair/shoes. This
will distract the musician(s) from emitting her deadly tones and cause her
to gab endlessly about herself. This in itself takes us to another problem
man has dealt with for a thousand years and to which there is no antidote.
Good Luck!

FLUTE: Slightly less effective as the piccolo but still nothing to be
trifled with. The flute possesses the same destructive qualities as the
piccolo but is required in greater numbers to do so. Sixth and seventh
grade females are especially effective with this weapon and are to be
approached with extreme caution.

OBOE: This weapon may appear harmless at first sight. The instrument's
stealth qualities lure its intended victims into a false state of security,
and then hit them without mercy. The oboe itself is a harmless composite or
wooden conical tube. Once the ordnance (reed) is inserted, it is a weapon
of tremendous power. One comforting factor is that the oboe is only as
dangerous as the musician who wields it. At first glance, the operator of
the oboe appears sweet, demure, and quite approachable. Do not be fooled by
this deception. The oboist is actually a very high strung and temperamental
foe. This mania is caused by the perpetual search for the perfect reed,
which we all know doesn't exist. Those who play on plastic reeds are the
bottom dwellers of the oboe world and are especially dangerous. The oboe is
capable of producing a tone of laser-like quality. The sheer capabilities
of volume produced can overpower an entire concert band. The resulting
backpressure produced by over blowing has a two-way effect. It allows the
musician to play seemingly forever on one breath resulting in sympathetic
vibrations causing bulletproof glass and diamonds to shatter into deadly
flying shards. The warning signs of impending doom occur when the musician
raises the body of the instrument to her mouth to blow dust from under a
key. This is how the weapon is cocked. If you ever see an oboist do this,
run for cover my friend, for all Hell is about to break loose. The second
effect of this weapon's backpressure is to cause its owner to eventually go
insane. On rare occasions an oboist's head has been known to explode while
firing their weapon. The only countermeasure to this weapon is to remove and
professionally destroy the ordnance (reed). Doing so will also incur the
wrath of its owner, so use extreme caution. The first master of the oboe as
a weapon was Melvin "Schwartz" (Oklahoma All-State Band 1982), name changed
to protect the guilty. He single handedly destroyed a performance of the
Howard Hanson Romantic Symphony Finale under McBeth with his laser-like
tones and inconsistent attacks. To this day, he has a bounty on his head
and was last seen tending bar in Tijuana.

Eb CLARINET: The Eb clarinet is the Tasmanian Devil of the woodwind family.
Entirely uncontrollable and unpredictable, its blunderbuss like emissions
can occur without warning. It is as much a danger to its owner as it is to
the intended victim. For this reason the Eb clarinet is not in wide use
today and only used by highly trained professionals and circus band
daredevils.

Bb CLARINET: As the flute is to the piccolo, the Bb Clarinet is to the Eb
Clarinet. The only time a Bb clarinet is considered truly dangerous is in
the hands of a saxophonist doubling on clarinet. His seemingly lacking
ability to adjust his air to the clarinet causes a tone so forced and
horrific that decorum prevents me from continuing.

ALTO, BASS, CONTRA BASS CLARINET: The Scud missiles of the clarinet family.
Considered low-grade weapons, these clarinets are of limited lethality due
to the extreme geekiness of their operators.

BASSOON: This is a weapon designed to start wars. Used primarily indoors,
this weapon's unique tone can cause great embarrassment in social
situations. Also known as the "farting bed post" the bassoonist will hide
behind a set of curtains at an official state dinner or similar function.
With the help of a diplomatic operative during the meal, the intermittent
flatulent tones emitted by the bassoon can be blamed on certain visiting
high government officials, causing great embarrassment and the possible
beginning of hostilities between two countries. The best countermeasure to
the bassoon involves lighter fluid and matches (you fill in the blanks).

SOPRANO SAXOPHONE: (See Kenny G) AHHHHHHHHHRGHHH!!!!!

ALTO SAX: Originally invented by Adolph Sax as the result of an evening of
much cheap wine and a dare by a drunken horn player, the instrument he
produced is neither brass nor woodwind. The only intended victim of this
vile weapon is the concert band French horn player. Nothing is worse than
hearing a great brass lick only to be obscured by the overly reedy tone and
wobbly "vibrato" of some half crazed alto sax doubling the horns and
overplaying them. Composers and arrangers are to blame as much as the alto
players. Older players unable to temper their 1940's swing band vibrato are
also a danger. The only counter measure is to question their manhood by
daring the player to play Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" at 230 beats per
minute. That should shut 'em up!

TENOR SAX: (See Alto Sax) Counter measure, throw down the gauntlet with a
dare to render John Coltrane's "Giant Steps".

BARITONE SAX: A tenor or alto wannabe, this instrument is flaccid and
harmless unless played in the style of Stephen "Doc" Kupka (Tower of Power).
His sporadic well placed grunting and punctuated style, when discovered by
young players, can cause discomfort among the average school director. The
only counter measure to this is self-medication by the teacher in the form
of tequila shots or similar substances.

TRUMPET: Obviously one would think that a trumpeter's greatest weapon is his
ability to play high notes at great volume. This misconception has been
perpetuated unwittingly by great performers like Maynard Ferguson and Dizzy
Gillespie. The danger is not in the player who can play high. The danger
lies in the player who THINKS he can play high. A young player's incessant
caterwauling and inflated ego are a danger to himself and all those around
him. The most effective counter measure is to allow the player to continue
his high note practice (even encourage him to go higher and louder) until
his lips explode or he cracks a tooth jamming his face into the mouthpiece.

FRENCH HORN: French horns thankfully are a danger only to a small group of
people, as their bells point in the wrong direction. They are only a danger
to those unfortunate enough to have to sit behind them. Their intonation
problems and constant cracking of pitches is of great annoyance to those
brass players sitting behind them. Though lately the introduction of
Plexiglas reflectors has reduced the danger to those behind the horns,
unfortunately it presents a greater danger to the players themselves and
those in front of them. Upon hearing their actual tones coming back at
them, some hornists have been known to actually vomit on stage due to the
hideousness of their own tone.

TROMBONE: A unique application, the instrument itself is not the real
danger. The person playing the instrument is what is truly dangerous. The
trombone and its player are the original "smart bomb." This weapon is most
effective in high tech warfare areas. Insertion of one or more trombonists
into a warfare computer center instantly lowers the aggregate I.Q. in the
room. The trombonist's incredible stupidity is a lethal bio weapon that
spreads at an incredible rate. Within 5 minutes of exposure, all computer
operators within a 50-foot radius are reduced to drooling idiots incapable
of the simplest motor functions and bowel control. Use of trombonists as
weapons was outlawed by the Geneva Convention in 1999 after an ugly incident
at a Dixieland convention in Sacramento.

BARITONE/EUPHONIUM: This is a weapon of mass confusion. Euphonium players
are the Rodney Dangerfields of the brass world. Young players especially
don't know their place in the band. They double French horns, trombones,
saxophones, tubas in octaves, bass clarinets, bassoons...yadda, yadda,
yadda! Euphonium orchestral parts are played by the second trombone or
worse, the tuba player! For this reason most
euphonium.........baritone...(WHATEVER!) players resort to doubling on
trombone. This is when they become dangerous. (See trombone.)

TUBA: This is a sonic weapon that when set off can produce sub sonic tones
causing a general feeling of uneasiness and queasiness to those within its
effective range. In addition, one may attach a sousaphone to a marching
column of soldiers. As all tubists drag, the ever-slowing performance of
um-pahs will eventually reduce the marching soldiers to a snail's pace
causing them to be late for a battle or not arrive at all. The most
effective countermeasure is to feed the tubist with great quantities of beer
(imports if you have them). It won't improve his playing but makes him more
enjoyable to be around.

SNARE DRUM/TRAP SET: This weapon affects only a very small demographic:
teenage girls and the fathers of these girls with steady jobs and liquid
bank accounts. The snare drummer and the jazz/rock variety of set player
act almost like a computer worm. The drummer will attach himself to an
unsuspecting teenage girl and milk her and her father's finances in such a
way as to not be noticed by the father until it is too late. Drummers are
the leaches of the music world and can only be countered by being forced to
get a real day job. This will reduce the drummer's "coolness" factor and
the daughter will immediately lose interest.